Years ago, Acura entered the sports sedan derby with the four-door version of its intrepid little Integra. While a great car, the puny Integra was more of a pretender to sedan status. Then, in 2004, Acura upped the ante and dropped the trim Euro version of its Accord in the States, renaming it the TSX. Two years in, itís one of the best values on the market. The í06 TSX has slightly sharper lines, taking a few design cues from its big brothers the RL and TL. Itís still not as flashy and hip as Lexusís new IS or the Benz C, but the TSX has a solid and sophisticated style that will age better than those two rivals.
Sick of losing sleep over which options to pick with your next auto purchase? You'll love the TSX. It offers no luxury edition, no grand touring model, no sports accented trim, almost nothing to haggle or obsess over. The only extra is the optional nav, which is worth the $2K price tag for the wow factor of a massive screen. Leather, heated front seats, a killer 360-watt eight-speaker satellite-enhanced stereo and a sunroof all come standard. If only all carmakers made being posh so easy.
So much horsepower is being shoehorned into so many cars these days, is it possible to get excited about a mere 205 ponies? Yes, actually. For the money, the power inside the new TSX is right on the money. Piloted around downtown Los Angeles, the transmission felt a bit jumpy and hyper-caffeinated at first tap on the accelerator. But once we learned just how to goose it, the TSX turned out to be one of the most enjoyable in-town cars we've tested in a long while.
Fast and fun without being flashy, the TSX most likely won't get you the girl, but when you're driving her home she'll be duly impressed by your suave ride.
